A look at results on May 16 that looked "odd" - jumping up quite a bit. I've asked and NOT found anything that indicates something happens after 2 days of cool weather and frost that changes something in a plant that would give a significant bump up in quality. D Scapanski - Benton Co - Northeast of Sauk Rapids Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV RFV RFQ ADF 5/5 14 Veg >240 No Lab Sample 5/9 18.6 Veg 221 242 289 22.6 5/12 21 Veg 205 223 254 24.1 5/16 22 Veg 200 263 313 20.3 5/17 22 Veg 200 227 260 23.4 5/17 22 Veg 200 213.5 246 24.1 5/17 22.5 Veg 198 234.8 273 22.4 5/17A 22.2 Veg 200 225 260 23.3

NDF

NDFd

CP

27.4 29.3 25.8 29 30.5 28.3 29.3

59.6 52.2 58.7 53.6 53.7 54.6 54.0

24.0 24.8 25.2 23.4 22.7 23.6 23.2

GDD

Notes

1 W-SW 2 W-C 3 W-NE Average

5/17 Samples were taken in the the Field West of Farm that I staked. I took a separate sample by each stake: 1st West Field SW Stake, 2nd West Field Center Stake, 3rd West Field NE Stake I cut up each sample into pieces about an inch long, mixed it and took it to the lab that way. Here's a table looking at the the May 17 average in the mix with the rest. Date Height Mat PEAQ RFV RFV RFQ ADF NDF NDFd 5/9 18.6 Veg 221 242 289 22.6 27.4 59.6 5/12 21 Veg 205 223 254 24.1 29.3 52.2 5/16 22 Veg 200 263 313 20.3 25.8 58.7 5/17A 22.2 Veg 200 225 260 23.3 29.3 54.0

CP 24.0 24.8 25.2 23.2 Average on 5/17

SOOOO..... I didn't think it was useful to clip a lab sample when the alfalfa was 14 inches tall. My mistake. It likley would have been for more confidence in a trend line. I think I'd suggest ignoring the May 16 test data here; and put some confidence in what the May 17 data shows. When I put the numbers on graphs on the next page, it leads me to think there is some credibility in figuring RFV and RFQ numbers are running higher than normal PEAQ estimates would indicate, perhaps because of a lot of the cooler weather we have had. Then I might picture RFV and RFQ lab test lines that run kind of parallel to the PEAQ line. I not sure what that means to the nutritionist in terms of the kind of feed I might end up with and how they'd like me to make harvest decisions... in the context of whatever I believe about the weather, and other priorities. Some people who have worked on this suggest we should watch NDF more than RFV. The NDF is thought to increase by 3 to 6 points as we move from fresh cut to the feed bunk. Average NDF here on May 17 was 29.3. So that might land in the feed bunk at 32.3 to 35.3. What do I and my

350 300 PEAQ RFV

250

RFV 200

RFQ

150 100 1

2

1 May 9

3

2 May 12

4

May 16

May 17

70.0 60.0 50.0

ADF NDF

40.0

NDFd 30.0

CP

20.0 10.0 1

2

3

4

D Scapanski - Older Stand south of Co. 43 with old crop residue, dandelions, etc left in the sample 5/16 20 Veg 211 229 264 23.0 27.5 53.2 24.4 I did not retest this one. Dan Martens, Extension Educator, Stearns-Benton-Morrison Counties